Class and Level Geekery VIII (spoilers ahoy!)

[Man on Fire]

I have few things to discuss.

1) Did you guys have made list of know spells from Xykon's spell list?
2) I've been thinking about this strip and I wonder - can it be possible that Malack may have Tomb-Born Vitlity feat? He may be lying about his special diet and may just not need to eat and he sorta looks like in describtion. And this and tomb-tained soul (and two other tomb feats) would fit Cleric of Death image.
3) Any opinions how many fvored enemies Belkar may have? I'm pretty sure Kobolds are one of them, but what about the rest?

[Man on Fire]

Double because I'm not seeing my own post.

[RMS Oceanic]

1. Yes, see my post (second in the thread) to see Xykon's spell list.
2. It may be thematically appropriate, but we have no hard evidence. He has not demonstrated any ability that could only be explained by these feats.
3. Belkar is at least a level 11 ranger. This means he has at least three different favoured enemies. As for what they are, we again have no hard evidence. His expressing distaste for kobolds does not translate into his demonstrating different bonii against them.

[Man on Fire]

Thanks a lot, that's what I wanted to know.

[Kurald Galain]

(3) Well, in my opinion the other two favored enemies are Human and Halfling. But indeed we have insufficient evidence to list that in the top post.

[Emperordaniel]

(3) Well, in my opinion the other two favored enemies are Human and Elf. But indeed we have insufficient evidence to list that in the top post.

Fixed that for you.

[Felixc-91]

Agreed with the post above mine. Why would you think halfling? IDK but we might also consider Goblinoid given some of his comments durring the seige of Azure city; "prey migration" and such.

[Dark Matter]

Because you need to be evil to have your own race as a favored enemy, and because Belkar's dream is to go back to his home and kill everyone.

He's also been pretty bad at killing Elves.

[zimmerwald1915]

He's also been pretty bad at killing Elves.

You might want to rethink that plural there. AFAIK, he's only tried to kill one, and that one happens to outgun him by several orders of magnitude. Not that this is evidence of anything at all. As has been said, there's no evidence either way.

[Dark Matter]

...he's only tried to kill one, and that one happens to outgun him by several orders of magnitude.

Exactly my point. The whole thing screams "personal rival", not "favored enemy".

[Flame of Anor]

His expressing distaste for kobolds does not translate into his demonstrating different bonii against them.

Actually, the Latin plural of "bonus" is "boni"--"bonii" would be the plural of "bonius", which I don't think is a word.

[Kurald Galain]

Interesting. So it would seem we don't have Malack's Magnificent Mummy Manufacturing Spell, but it is something his staff does for him.

And Haley seems to possess trick arrows. Any thoughts on what these might be, rules-wise, or has she just watched Hawkeye from The Avengers?

[RMS Oceanic]

It could be an arrow with a Darkness oil applied to it.

Three things for my posts: Malack seemed to animate the mummies with his Staff, so any speculation about his level is now moot. There is no Staff in the SRD that has Animate Dead or Create Undead in its repetoir, so I'd hazard it's a customised staff with one of those spells among others.

The second thing, this is the second time Tarquin has caught an arrow. If he's using the gloves of arrow snaring they're now spent for the day, and the next arrow caught will reveal the truth for certain. However, Nale's dialog implies it's something Tarquin can do, rather than magic gloves he holds, so there may be people who think that's sufficient proof.

Finally, what do we think Tarquin's, for want of a better word, trap sense could be reflected by? Is it just good training, is it a specific ability, or is it too soon to tell either way?

Thoughts on these assumptions? Are they okay to put into the post, or is there an alternate explanation?

[Kurald Galain]

Tarquin's trap sense appears to come from the keen understanding of narrative and tropes that he shares with Elan.

Note how the arrow has a metallic casing of some kind; I don't think it's oil.

[RMS Oceanic]

Tarquin's trap sense appears to come from the keen understanding of narrative and tropes that he shares with Elan.

Note how the arrow has a metallic casing of some kind; I don't think it's oil.

The casing breaks when the spell goes off. My personal theory is it was a glass vial of oil that broke when Tarquin snatched it, coating it in the arrow and activating the spell. I could be wrong though.

[zimmerwald1915]

Three things for my posts: Malack seemed to animate the mummies with his Staff, so any speculation about his level is now moot. There is no Staff in the SRD that has Animate Dead or Create Undead in its repetoir, so I'd hazard it's a customised staff with one of those spells among others.

The argument that he didn't create more mummies because he couldn't control more is as strong as it ever was - which is to say, not really all that strong. Maybe the staff just ran our of Create Undead charges. It is useful to note that it is called a staff specifically, rather than a rod.

[Lady Tialait]

I think Tarquin's spider scenes are Uncanny Dodge.

[Kish]

Details of house rule that caused mummified bodies to somehow make it easier to create mummies still unknown.

That is not what Uncanny Dodge does, and if it was house-ruled to work that way in OotS, it would have come up with Haley in dozens of situations long before now.

[Dark Matter]

This: (Link removed: Google for "AD&D ambush feats")

...has ambush feats, and mentions something about more "The Complete Scoundrel". Can anyone say if there's a "spot ambush" feat in there?

[RMS Oceanic]

Unless Wizards have given permission for that book to be hosted there, I'd remove that link.

Ambush feats are feats where you sacrifice your sneak attack damage in exchange for certain benefits. I don't think any of them let you spot actual ambushes.

[St Fan]

As I have already mentionned, Malack's staff isn't listed in his possessions.

And now we have confirmation it's magical.

[Nahmer]

Interesting. So it would seem we don't have Malack's Magnificent Mummy Manufacturing Spell, but it is something his staff does for him.

My thought was that it was a Runestaff of the Undying (Magic Item Compendium, p. 182) as it grants both Animate Dead and Create Undead; the problem with that theory, however, is that runestaffs don't use charges - they expend spell slots (and each spell can only be invoked a limited number of times per day - twice in this item's case). A similar problem occurs with a Domain Staff of Death (Complete Champion, p. 143), i.e., create undead 1/day and no charges.

The closes official staff I can find is a Staff of Skulls (Complete Arcane, p. 147) which grants both Cure Light Wounds and Animate Dead; it's conceivable that he used it as a template to create a greater version that grants both Heal and Create Undead (which expends at least two charges).

[RMS Oceanic]

I have marked the staff as containing an unspecified spell that can create mummies. As Nahmer indeed notes the only staff that comes close is Staff of Skulls, but its Animate Dead uses one charge while this staff uses "a few". My suspicion is it is a custom staff, but perhaps we'll see more information about it in the future.

What do we think about Tarquin's Schrodinger's Feat? Is Nale's dialogue enough for snatch arrows, or should we wait on the third arrow?

[Chessgeek]

What do we think about Tarquin's Schrodinger's Feat? Is Nale's dialogue enough for snatch arrows, or should we wait on the third arrow?

Personally, I would just list it, but I'm not sure how close to 100% fact you guys want to get before saying something.

So I say post and then fix if it is proven false.

[Kish]

We should wait on some indication that it's Snatch Arrows and not gloves.

Nale commenting "She didn't learn that you [have an ability which you demonstrated in the last battle in front of her and me]" in no way indicates that said ability comes from a feat rather than an item.

[ThePhantasm]

The strip title is "Actually, She Did." That threw me off a bit. I suppose it is just a joke. Otherwise it would imply either a) that Haley knows what kind of enchanted gloves Tarquin is currently wearing or b) that Haley knows Tarquin has an ability to snatch arrows AND knows that the helmeted assailant is actually Tarquin. Neither a) nor b) seem very likely at this point though.

[ti'esar]

The strip title is "Actually, She Did." That threw me off a bit. I suppose it is just a joke. Otherwise it would imply either a) that Haley knows what kind of enchanted gloves Tarquin is currently wearing or b) that Haley knows Tarquin has an ability to snatch arrows AND knows that the helmeted assailant is actually Tarquin. Neither a) nor b) seem very likely at this point though.

Or the somewhat more likely c) she observed that the helmeted opponent could snatch arrows when she fought him a few strips ago.

[Douglas]

The strip title is "Actually, She Did." That threw me off a bit. I suppose it is just a joke. Otherwise it would imply either a) that Haley knows what kind of enchanted gloves Tarquin is currently wearing or b) that Haley knows Tarquin has an ability to snatch arrows AND knows that the helmeted assailant is actually Tarquin. Neither a) nor b) seem very likely at this point though.

No, it only implies that Haley knows that the "helmeted assailant" has an ability (from whatever source) to snatch arrows - which she witnessed in strip 851.

[ThePhantasm]

No, it only implies that Haley knows that the "helmeted assailant" has an ability (from whatever source) to snatch arrows - which she witnessed in strip 851.

Dang it. I forgot about about that. Time to facepalm.

*facepalm*

[EmperorSarda]

Finally, what do we think Tarquin's, for want of a better word, trap sense could be reflected by? Is it just good training, is it a specific ability, or is it too soon to tell either way?

I think until otherwise proved, Tarquin shares the same sense of storytelling and tropes as Elan does.

That, or a super good spot.